Which format is best for printing transparent (gradient) files?

[tbb95]

Hi guys,

 

I've previously encountered a problem when printing edited pictures that were partially transparent (created with the Gradient tool). I found that the transparent bit, when printed, came out all black instead of white (which was what I expected).

 

How can I avoid this problem? I can't use .jpg since the quality of the pictures really deteriorates. I want to maintain a high quality when printing, but it's a necessity that the partially transparent background will print as being white. 

 

In this specific case it's a transition between grey and white, which I've created using the Gradient tool, so the left side is completely grey, the right side is completely white and the middle is a 50/50.

 

Can anyone help? Any help is greatly appreciated. Thank you very much and have a nice day.

 

-Ethan

[barbieq25]

Hi Ehtan, so you are saving it as a .PNG? What about if you put a white layer on the very bottom? OR do you need it transparent?

Let us know what you plan to so with the print out. That might make it easier for us to help you.

[tbb95]

Hi Ehtan, so you are saving it as a .PNG? What about if you put a white layer on the very bottom? OR do you need it transparent?

Let us know what you plan to so with the print out. That might make it easier for us to help you.

 

Yes, I have saved all of my files as .png for now. I'm not sure how I can put a white layer on the bottom, because this would make the whole selected area white, wouldn't it? I need a transition between the grey bit and the white bit, not a completely grey bit and a completely white bit. Is there a way to do this without a transparent background? 

 

The print is rather small: It's trading cards (and I won't upscale or downscale anything). That's why it's essential for me that the format doesn't compromise quality since every small letter has to be clear and sharp, but at the same time I don't want to print transparent .png files since they come out all black instead of white.

 

I hope you can help. Thank you!

[needforsuv]

maybe its your printer
do you have other printers you can try

[tbb95]

maybe its your printer

do you have other printers you can try

 

It shouldn't be. I have these printed at a company here in Europe. I've also learnt that .png files aren't really meant to be printed since the .png format is mostly used for websites and everything that's online and digital. 

[Cc4FuzzyHuggles]

Maybe try flattening your image, then add a new layer under it, and fill it in with a color that matches whatever color of paper you plan to print on. This should help the image become a solid, since the printer doesn't understand transparency. Remember, even if you could print transparency, the paper you print on would act as a "background" color that shows through any transparent areas.

 

You could also try printing in a PDF format. Here is a plugin for paint.net to use and save pdf files : http://forums.getpaint.net/index.php?/topic/22863-imagepdf-filetype-plugin-pdf/

 

If you could share your image here, perhaps we could get a better idea of what you are trying to print, and then we might be able to give you other suggestions. I bet there is a way to have your image be the way you want it to be, but as a solid image.

(Don't know how to post images? See the first and last pages of this thread : http://forums.getpaint.net/index.php?/topic/12193-how-to-use-images-in-your-posts-signatures-and-avatars/ (Remember image size positing rules though, no bigger than 800x600)

Edited July 13, 2014 by Cc4FuzzyHuggles

[midora]

There must be something else wrong. If your image contains transparent areas then you should not get a black area.

If you like to keep the quality you have to store as png and not as jpg. Standard jpgs do not support transparency.

If you are able to print via Paint.NET and like to control the exact dimension of the printout then you should give the PrintIt plugin a try.

[tbb95]

Maybe try flattening your image, then add a new layer under it, and fill it in with a color that matches whatever color of paper you plan to print on. This should help the image become a solid, since the printer doesn't understand transparency. Remember, even if you could print transparency, the paper you print on would act as a "background" color that shows through any transparent areas.

 

You could also try printing in a PDF format. Here is a plugin for paint.net to use and save pdf files : http://forums.getpaint.net/index.php?/topic/22863-imagepdf-filetype-plugin-pdf/

 

If you could share your image here, perhaps we could get a better idea of what you are trying to print, and then we might be able to give you other suggestions. I bet there is a way to have your image be the way you want it to be, but as a solid image.

(Don't know how to post images? See the first and last pages of this thread : http://forums.getpaint.net/index.php?/topic/12193-how-to-use-images-in-your-posts-signatures-and-avatars/ (Remember image size positing rules though, no bigger than 800x600)

 

Thank you very much for your informative reply. I take it that the picture is already flattened, because when I click "Layers", it shows only 1 piece:

 

 

In the picture you can also see a (small) bit of the transparent bit of the picture (which is a trading card). It's the curved middle piece which is especially evident at the right side. It's this piece that's transparent (and apparently single-layered) that I'm trying to avoid becoming black.

 

I will definitely try your idea with the white background. I will open a new file which will be all white. I will then copy and paste my transparent file onto the white (while the transparent bits will remain transparent; however, the layer beneath will be white). But won't this be a problem as well, because when I save it as a .tiff file, won't it just turn into a single layer again (still with a transparent bit)? Or will it be 2 separate layers in 1 file? 

 

I really hope you can help. This is quite important to me, thank you.

 

There must be something else wrong. If your image contains transparent areas then you should not get a black area.

If you like to keep the quality you have to store as png and not as jpg. Standard jpgs do not support transparency.

If you are able to print via Paint.NET and like to control the exact dimension of the printout then you should give the PrintIt plugin a try.

 

Perhaps it's because the company I have these pictures printed at uses a black background as a standard, so when I try to print a transparent area, it's not recognized and instead gets printed in the way that the previous post suggested (Cc4FuzzyHuggles's post). 

[Cc4FuzzyHuggles]

You don't need to make a new image to add a white background.

 

1) Open your image.

2) Add a new layer by looking at your layers window and clicking this icon :AddNewLayer:.

3) If it's not already, move the new layer under your picture's layer. (to move a layer either click and drag (in 4.0) or use the up/down arrow icons :MoveLayerUp: :MoveLayerDown:.)

4) Fill the new layer with white.

5) Flatten the image and "save as", rename the new save and save as png, or any format you want really. Your image is no longer transparent at this point, so transparent formats don't matter too much. But, since you saved with a new name for the image, you didn't overwrite the one that was transparent. So, you should have the original transparent version of your image, and now a solid version for printing.

 

Edited July 13, 2014 by Cc4FuzzyHuggles

[tbb95]

Thank you very much for your reply Cc4FuzzyHuggles, I tried it out and now I'm waiting to see if it'll work. Fingers crossed.